Retail sales facilities typically stock items at “case” or pack levels instead of “each” or individual item levels for efficiency of inventory management. In some cases, it is more efficient to open the cases of certain products and manage such product inventory at the “each” level (i.e., individual units). For example, if a storage bin or another location in a stock room of the retail sales facility contains multiple stock keeping units (SKUs) or a large number of different items, the inventory often becomes difficult to manage by way of case level.
Conventional inventory management systems typically do not distinguish between situations when it is more advantageous to manage the product at the case level or at the each level. As such, the stocking associates have to either use their judgment or rely on their manager to decide whether an item is to be stocked and managed as a case item or as an each item. This may lead to undesired user error and/or inconsistencies in the way certain inventory items are stocked at various retail sales facilities. In addition, managing items at an each level when it is more advantageous to manage the item at a case level may unnecessarily take up a large portion of time from department managers and/or sales associates at the retail sales facility. Conversely, managing items at a case level when it is more advantageous to manage the item at an each level may lead to inefficiency in stocking and retrieving such items from the stock room.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.